Chapter 4 Flashcards
When was the renaissance? What was it?
1450-1600
- “rebirth” of a more open-minded enquiry like the classic greeks had.
- European shift in focus from god to man (NOT ATHEISTIC). God gave man the ability to reason and god is manifest in nature. So, why not explore god’s manifest abilities in man (art, logic) and study nature.
In the renaissance church dogma (ex. 7 heavenly bodies in the solar system that rotate around the earth) was replace by what?
What 2 philosophical shifts were responsible for this change?
What 2 events were responsible for this change?
replaced by direct observation of nature without theological considerations.
- Aquinas’ acceptance of reason and examination of nature as valid ways of knowing God. Reason being acceptable in church circles allowed people to discuss and apply it
- Humanist philosophy, a focus on man’s capacities
EVENTS
- Discovery of new world and “savages” created issues for the church. Did savages have souls?
ex. marco Polo to asia, columbus to new world, magellan navigates the globe. - Printing press. Bible printed in local vernaculars democratized religious knowledge and led to the reformation, weakening central church authority. It also increased literacy massively and allowed for more non-religious books. (the church was the primary producer of books before this)
What are the main themes of Renaissance Humanism?
Define it.
Was this an atheistic movement?
- Focus on the potential and capabilities of man.
- No, still a Christian movement. Not atheistic.
Individualism: new optimism about human potential to change the world, not just the church
Personal religion: More based in personal experience less on dogma
Interest in the past: Greek and Roman thinkers were re-examined independent of church dogma/interpretation. Plato and eastern religion
Anti-Aristotelianism: Pushback against the Church’s adoption of Aristotle as dogma
IPIA
Bacon proposed that science should be based on the process of \\\\\\\ in order to avoid making more mistakes based on past mistakes
He proposed some sources of error that could creep into scientific investigation. What were they?
Induction. Not deduction, like Newton.
idols of the tribe: bias resulting from human nature
idols of theater: bias from tradition or authority
bias of the marketplace: bias from language and words
Idols of the cave: bias from person experience
TTMC
CLARIFY
How did Kepler’s approach to science differ from Galileo’s?
Kepler insisted that all mathematical deductions be supported by observation.
Galileo had a Pythagorean-Platonic approach: discovering a natural law was like discovering a form. Once you knew the natural law you were free for mathematical deduction.
Define deduction and induction
What two famous renaissance thinkers were heavily invested into one and the other?
TEXT
(NEED TO ADD THE OTHER THINKER)
Deduction: predicting an event from a general principle. (Once you know a natural law you can deduce outcomes…)
Induction: direct observation of nature
Bacon was into induction (later called positivism. Claimed that theories, hypotheses, math, and deductions led to bias.
Ex. Artistotle was a biased researcher and assumed that objects in nature were governed by final causes. Of course, he found evidence for the existence of final causes. Instead of understanding things we dispute about words and carry into nature what exists in our imagination (ex. final causes)
What would be the first scientific revolution according to Kuhns paradigm model?
Ptolemaic-copernican or geocentric-heliocentric debate
Explain the difference between deduction and induction
Deduction: from general to particular. Begin with an assumption or principle/concept. Then make a conclusion naturally following from it.
Induction: from particular to general. Start with no assumptions. Observe a large number of instances then infer a common theme or principle.
If you asked Hume what the foundation of human thought was, what would he tell you?
Who did Hume want to be like?
Impressions + ideas = simple ideas. The imagination combines these into complex ideas
(dude was an empiricist)
- to be the newton of social science. Inductive tho, with experiments
T or f, lockes empiricism included a passive mind for which thoughts are accounted for by sensations
F
Lockes model had an active mind
(sensations and reflections were the basis of thought)
Sensations are the basic element
BUT
by reflecting on sensations we get ideas which we form into complex ideas by mental operations.
sensations + reflections = ideas + mental operations = complex ideas
What did Francisco Petrarch and other humanists have against Scholasticism?
He didn’t like churchy thinkers using the classics to validate their beliefs and trying to marry faith and intellect/reason.
Liked St Augustine’s approach: religion based on the bible and personal faith.
Which thinker felt that a person’s life in this world is as important as the one after? That God wanted humans to use our potential to change the world for the better.
These ideas inspired Renaissance art and literature
Francisco Petrarch
Which thinker’s anti-dogma approach and focus on separating religion/faith and reason paved the way for Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and modern science?
Francisco Petrarch
Which thinker proposed that God created humans with unique potential.
We can choose to exercise intellect/reason over sensual/instinctual lives.
What other concept did this thinker carry over this thinking to?
Giovanni Pico
- We also have the freedom to choose between viewpoints. All viewpoints converge at truth (ex. Plato vs Aristotle eventually agree)
